​European Jet Import Volumes Plunge in Q3 14 as Demand Stalls

Jet fuel volumes into Europe have declined by 13% in the third quarter and by 32% for the first nine months of 2014, compared to the same time periods last year, according to data from the OPIS Tanker Tracker on FleetMon.com and European Commission trade statistics.

Imports of jet fuel into EU member countries tallied just over 5.1 million metric tons in July, August, and September, arriving on 90 tankers, data from the tracker show. That compares to 5.9 million tons for the same period last year, based on Eurostat information.

Jet fuel demand growth has slowed at the same time that European refineries have switched to as much jet production as possible amid higher margins available over other middle distillates.

The first six months of 2014 -- the latest data for which Eurostat statistics are available -- show an 8.9% fall on the same period for 2013.

When the third quarter of Tanker Tracker data is added to 2014, volumes for the first nine months total nearly 9.8 million tons. That compares to 14.4 million tons in the corresponding period of 2013.

In the first and second quarters of 2014, volumes tracked in real time by OPIS corresponded by more than 97% to official Eurostat data that was released later.

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